Wednesday, May 30, 2012

I think that the first few months post-baby are the hardest time in terms of finding ones style.

Pre-baby it is so much easier. You know your body, you don't always like everything about it, but you know it. You know what fits, what shapes work for it and which clothes give you the look you want to present. You know?Pregnancy, for me, is fun. Your body might be changing shape, but there is one big focal point - your lovely round belly. It is relatively easy to put together outfits that work around that beautiful baby bump (even if it is hard to find things that fit!). Post-partum? It's like being in someone else's body. Your chest is huge (and leaky!), your tummy is all squishy and wobbly, you have lumps and bumps where you never knew you could get lumps and bumps.. generally you're just not yourself. For me, I don't think it's even the extra size that makes it hard (though it would be helpful in terms of fitting pre-preg clothes) but rather the overall change of body shape. I'm so used to having a waist, albeit not tiny, and wearing dresses and high waisted skirts with belts.. safe to say that wouldn't be a good look right now. I'm really struggling to find a comfy and practical 'look' for Winter, to tide me over til I lose a bit of weight and get some of my shape back.I'll get there though (both to the finding of the look, and the weight loss!) and i intend to keep sharing outfits along the way, to encourage myself, and document the process.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

You would think, since this is my third baby, I would be onto it enough to have a post-partum/breastfeeding friendly wardrobe sorted. I'm not.
I thought I was pretty organised this time, but I guess I had forgotten quite how, erm, squishy and lumpy one is after having a baby. I also seem to have forgotten how easy-access things need to be when your little one feeds hourly! Buttons? No, thanks. Tight clothes? Heck, no.
I'm doing my best though. And trying not to just beat myself up for not fitting any of my regular clothes yet. I am, afterall, too busy with more important things. My time for seriously thinking about weightloss will come around soon enough.

So, outfits are less about style and more about practicality and comfort round here at the mo'. That's not to say we've resigned to pjs as daily wear, but there are certainly no fashion awards being won. I'm cool with that. I'm determined to make it work for me.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Mollie1 Month OldWell, 4 weeks actually, but it's almost the same. I have no idea where these last few weeks have gone. They've been a bit of a tired haze, really. Would you believe me if I told you I'm still not even sure it has sunk in that she's a she? (I'm not letting that stand in the way of making the most of cute girly clothes though.. )

Mollie is, obviously, having a few issues with reflux. She's not letting that stand in the way of weight gain though, she's now 10lb (she was 8lb13oz born) and starting to grow out of her newborn clothes. I'm sure she'll be a bundle of chins and rolls in no time!(See week 1 here)

Friday, May 18, 2012

This week we set about trying to find a solution to the issues we've been having. This involves trying a few things, obviously, to see what is going to work. Unfortunately trying also means not finding an immediate answer, or an immediate end to the tears (both hers and mine) that are being shed.

The first thing to be tried is/was spacing out breastfeeds to two-hourly. Mollie has been feeding mostly hourly during the day (occasionally less, very rarely more) since she was born. Demand feeding, if you will.My midwife suggested that perhaps her upset tummy might be due to not having enough time to settle between feeds, and that spacing feeds would allow both her belly and my nipples a bit of time to rest. She suggested trying a dummy (we call them 'bubbles' in our house) and warned me that it would be touch yakka for three days while she got used to waiting that bit longer.

It is safe to say two things: 1) It WAS definitely tough yakka.2) Mollie HATES bubbles.I tried every type of newborn pacifier you can buy in Whakatane (anyone need one? I have plenty of unused, they all come in packs of two!) and each and every time she screwed up her face and screamed even louder, until I gave up.(I can't say I blame her, really. Those things have nothing on boobs. And where's the fun of drinking from an empty bottle?!)I had help from family, who came and held her while I hung out washing and had showers, or just plain held her. So hard to hold a baby who thinks she is hungry when you smell like milk! And she didn't seem to be getting any more used to it.

We stuck it out for three and a half days. There were tears galore (far more than before, from both of us..), and no less puking/spilling/gagging/hiccuping. Yesterday, on the fourth day, I gave in. I got my boobs out, and decided that sometimes it's better to give in to instinct.

The poor wee mite is now on to the next step in the reflux journey - medication. We started Gaviscon today ( which comes with it's own issues! How does one get 15ml of liquid into the full belly of a babe? And how does it help when she just projectile pukes it back out?!) and have also made an osteo appointment for next week. Surely between the two of them they will ease things a little. (In the meantime we'll just keep up our near-constant babywearing!)

I'm not sure about Mol, but I feel slightly better already, just feeling like I might actually be able to DO something about the pain. Fingers crossed!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Thank you all so much for your comments on my last post. I really,
really appreciate all the love and support. I'm going to attempt to
reply to you all today (although blogger doesn't tell me all of your
email addresses.. le sigh..) but, in the meantime, thaaaaaank youuu.

We are trying something new with Mol today, but I'll talk about that
later.

Right now I need some quick crafty distraction. I think my chances of
sewing time this week are almost definitely nil, so I'll show you
something I managed to whip up last week, and hope it somehow fills the sewing-shaped void in my day!

The wee dress/top is a pattern I made based on a dress/top Mollie was gifted. I added the gather in the front for a bit of interest. It needs a little tweaking in length, but I think it'll be a fave.
The pants are basic recycled merino leggings with a matching ribbed cuff. Easy as.

I'm love loving black and grey as colours for a girl, although I'm also letting in a lot more pink than I though I would! Guess the girly-ness might get to me afterall... eventually..

Sunday, May 13, 2012

I think my third day/milk coming in day of extreme emotion and
tearfulness may have arrived a wee bit late. It would appear that maybe
I'm having a third week of doom-and-gloom status.
Perhaps the babymoon just wears off sooner with the third babe, or
perhaps I've romanticised and glossed over the memories of first few weeks
with the boys. But, either way, this week has been hard as.

Don't get me wrong, Mollie is wonderful. She is absolutely delicious, and I am completely smitten.
I am less smitten with her wee belly though, it seems to cause her a lot
of pain. And her constant need to suckle (and a slightly lazy latch) is causing my nipples a lot of grief. I fear we might have another reflux baby on our hands, and I'm
feeling really sad about it. I'm also feeling guilty about it, like
perhaps it is somehow my fault.(That might be the lack of sleep talking
though, it is safe to say we're not getting a huge amount of that.)

I'm struggling a little to keep my spirits up, to be honest. The
hormones, the lack of sleep, the physical pain, the inability to soothe poor wee Mollie..
it's all wearing me down a bit. I'm starting to feel the negativity
sneaking up on me. I'm having those niggly thoughts about how perhaps
I'm not doing my job quite right, and about everything I could/should be
doing differently for myself and for the kids. I'm trying my hardest to
pish posh it, and push it all out of my mind - reminding myself that
it's all rubbish and that 'this too shall pass'. But it's hard work, ya
know?

Anyway. That's enough of that. I'm not huge on talking about my
feelings, but I needed to get that out. I feel like I need a bit of
lady-love surrounding me at the moment - even if you are all too far
away to pop round for a cuppa.

We'll be back to smooshy baby pictures and crafty stuff next week, promise xx

Sunday, May 6, 2012

I have, surprisingly, found a few moments for sewing in the past two
weeks (YES, Mollie is TWO weeks old already?! How does this happen?).
Mollie is not a baby that likes being put down. Do any newborns really
like being put down? Probably not. But some newborns do seem to be able
to sleep if swaddled tight and if they're already asleep when you pop
them in their bassinet. Not this one. (And I'm not complaining.. just
sayin'.)
But I have had ONE day where Mol did sleep without me (for two whole
hours!), and one arvo where she slept with Abraham for and hour or so...
precious sewing time!

I made a wee recycled merino dress and some stripey footed pants the first day, and a Mollie-sized version of these amazing leggings on the second, using the same stripey cotton lycra.

I'm keeping my expectations low, and not 'expecting' any sewing time in these first few weeks. But, by golly, it was so nice to be in front of that machine again! Looking forward to having a bit more time for sewing in the not-too-distant future.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

I had grand intentions of getting all dressed up (in normal clothes! A
dress even!), putting some make up on, and participating in Wardrobe
Wednesday today. Cause, you know, that would have been really impressive
with a 10 day old, aye?
Alas, Mollie woke up in a
please-don't-put-me-down-for-longer-than-a-minute mood, and also with a
lovely dose of you-ate-something-that-doesn't-agree-with-me pukeyness.
So my best intentions went out the window, such is life with a newborn!
Instead you get my third outfit for the day (other two covered in icky
milkyness..) which consists of a black singlet (easy access to boobs!),
black cardi, comfy skirt and ever-handy Moby style wrap. This thing is
an absolute lifesaver, I tell you.

Since my outfit leaves a bit to be desired, I will include a picture of Mollie's too. Hers is significantly cuter.
Her hat was a gift from my friend Melissa, which found in our letterbox
this morning. Her cardi, a gift from Amy and her top and pants were
hand-me-downs from my friend Hazel. So much girly-clothing gifting love
happening at our house at the moment. I'll write more about that soon!

(Right now I'm off to walk another few laps of the yard to see if I can get Mollie-Mollie off to sleep again!)